The Seattle Mariners endured the kind of night when virtually nothing goes right, and Julio Rodriguez provided the moment that summed up the entire disaster.
Seattle was already being battered by the Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Field when Rodriguez made a stunning mental error in center field. By the time the damage was done, Milwaukee had rolled to a 22-0 victory, tying one of baseball’s most lopsided shutout marks.
The most painful moment for Rodriguez came in a brutal bottom of the eighth inning, when Milwaukee scored nine runs.
Rodriguez Loses Track of the Outs
The Brewers had already pushed six runs across in the inning when Christian Yelich sent a fly ball to center. Rodriguez settled underneath it and made the catch without trouble.
Rodriguez apparently believed he had recorded the third out of the inning. Instead of returning the ball to the infield, he threw it into the stands. There were only two outs.
Andrew Vaughn tagged from third and scored on the sacrifice fly. Jonathan Ornelas, who had been at second base, was then awarded home because of Rodriguez’s throwing error.
Rodriguez could do little afterward but stand in the outfield and shake his head.
It was an extraordinary mistake, but by that stage it was also part of a much larger collapse. Milwaukee finished with 22 runs and a season-high 22 hits while matching the franchise record for runs in a game. The Brewers previously scored 22 against the Toronto Blue Jays on August 28, 1992.
Mariners Land on Wrong Side of MLB History
The final margin also put Seattle on the wrong side of some ugly baseball history. The 22-0 score matched Pittsburgh’s victory over the Chicago Cubs in 1975 and Cleveland’s 22-0 demolition of the New York Yankees on August 31, 2004.
Milwaukee didn’t rely on power to dismantle Seattle.
The Brewers entered with 117 home runs, the fewest in baseball, but Mariners manager Dan Wilson had warned before the game that their offense could create problems in several different ways.
“They’ll put bunts down and put pressure on the bases and steal bags,” Wilson said. “They also can hit the home run. You have to prepare for all areas of the game.”
That assessment proved painfully accurate for Seattle.
Milwaukee used its speed as well, executing a double steal during a five-run fifth inning that helped turn what had been a competitive game into a runaway. From there, the situation deteriorated rapidly.
Brewers Pour It On in Record-Tying Rout
By the eighth inning, there was little mystery left about the outcome. The Brewers kept scoring, eventually producing nine runs in the frame, with Rodriguez’s mistaken throw into the crowd adding another bizarre chapter to an already miserable evening.
For Milwaukee, which improved to 78-48, it was an offensive performance that reached the franchise record book.
“It’s one game but a pretty darn good performance,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “I’d like to order that every night.”
Seattle, meanwhile, was left with the opposite problem: a 22-run shutout, a place in baseball history it certainly did not want, and an unforgettable mental mistake from one of its biggest stars in the middle of it all.
